FRA 2015 Newsletter

FRA 2010 NEWS 08

Welcome

We are pleased to present the eight issue of the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 E-Newsletter, the FRA 2010 News.

In this issue you will find a request for photos of all the contributors to the FRA 2010 report, information on the launch of the key findings of FRA 2010, the remote sensing survey, the release of the 2008 Yearbook of forest products, the FRA 2010 special studies, the National Forest and Monitoring Assessment initiatives and other relevant initiatives in the Forestry Department of FAO. It also provides information on workshops, meetings and publications related to FRA.

1. Wanted: your photo!

More than 900 people have been directly involved in FRA 2010, not counting the remote sensing survey and the special studies. We would like to prepare a photo montage of as many of these as possible for the launch of the main report at COFO in October. If you contributed to the national report of your country, please send your photo (or one of the whole team) to: fra@fao.org or via mail to: FAO of the UN Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome. Please include the names of the people in the photo. We would also like to receive photos of members of the FRA Advisory Group.

The regional key findings have been presented at the meetings of the six Regional Forestry Commissions held in Portugal, Tunisia, Republic of Congo, Mexico, Guatemala and Bhutan, while the FRA 2010 Main report will be published in six languages and released on the occasion of the 20th session of the Committee on Forestry, (COFO) (http://www.fao.org/forestry/cofo/en/).

3. The Remote Sensing Survey

The Remote Sensing Survey is in full swing. A number of regional and sub-regional workshops have been held and more are planned for the rest of the year. Please refer to: http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/55919/en/ for a preliminary schedule of these.

4. Special Studies

Trees outside forestThe latest Expert Consultation on the Global Forest Resources Assessment (Kotka V, June 2006), recommended that a special study on trees outside forests should be carried out as part of FRA 2010.

The inception workshop for the Study was held in Rome on 9–10 June 2010. During the workshop, 42 experts from 31 institutions in 17 countries defined the objectives, scope and process for developing the special study.

The special study is expected to be prepared by March 2011 and it will include a review and comparative analysis of past and current large scale assessments and a set of methodological and technical options for national-level assessments of trees outside forests. Recommendations for an improved integration of trees outside forests into the FRA reporting process will also be included in the study.

The special study is intended to support national agencies responsible for forestry, agriculture, environment, and rural and urban development, by providing adapted tools and methods to assess resources of trees outside forests, as well as their products, uses and economic and environmental functions, at a national level. Through such assessments, local and national decision-makers will be better able to take into account resources of trees outside forests and the services they provide. This support to decision-makers and land-use planners is especially important for developing countries as the contribution of trees outside forests to people’s livelihoods, and national economies is expected to dramatically increase in the current context of climate change, financial crisis and food insecurity.

Forestry, poverty and livelihoodsFAO is in the process of developing ways to collect and incorporate data about the reliance of local people on forests, and the value of those forests to them, into future Forest Resource Assessments, through a special study on Forestry, poverty and livelihoods. A pilot study to test these assessment methods is planned to be undertaken in 3 countries; Uganda (Africa); Vietnam (S.E Asia) and a 3rd country in Central America (possibly Guatemala).

The activities will formally start in July 2010 with an Expert Reference group meeting comprising key partners in the study, namely IUCN, CIFOR, and PROFOR (World Bank).

In September 2010, the 1st pilot study will kick off in Uganda, using the most recent census in the country and applying agreed wealth/poverty criteria to all villages in all districts where forests exist. A more detailed assessment will then be undertaken in a sample of villages throughout the country. Finally, guidance will be provided to governments on ways of establishing low-cost data collection methods which illustrate the value of forests to local livelihoods and poverty reduction.

Forests and Forestry in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)In 2008, participants from Pacific island countries to the FRA 2010 regional workshop recommended that a special study on SIDS should be carried out in order to draw attention to forests, forest management and specific forest-related issues in Small Island Developing States.

On the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission Session in Bhutan, a side event on the SIDS special study was held with the support of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). The side event aimed at informing participants on the objectives of the special study and at discussing with them the content, format and scope of the study. During the discussions, main challenges, constraints and opportunities of the forest sector in the SIDS were addressed by the participants who also provided useful inputs for the further development of the special study and agreed on a work-plan.

Forest degradationA series of working papers that showcase potential methodologies for measuring forest degradation can be found as part of the Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper Series as follows: http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/2560/en/.

As part of outreach activities on forest degradation, CIFOR and FAO held a joint side event at the recent UNFCCC climate change talks in Bonn, Germany on 1 June, 2010. Please follow the link below for an article on the side event and to see the presentations that were made:http://www.forestsclimatechange.org/degraded-forests.html. Next steps are the development of guidelines for measuring different aspects of forest degradations. A meeting of authors is tentatively scheduled for early October.

The FAO Yearbook of forest products 2008 has been published. This 62nd issue of the Yearbook contains annual data on the production and trade in forest products for the years 2004-2008 and on direction of trade in 2007 and 2008. In order to increase access to forestry information and best serve its member countries, the Yearbook has expanded its language coverage and it now includes Arabic and Chinese versions.

The yearbook will be soon available on-line for download and an electronic version is also available as a CD-Rom; to obtain a copy please send your request to: Marisalee.Palermo@fao.org

6. Updating of FAO website on country pages - request for inputs

We are currently working on the restructuring of the country briefs section of the FAO website and on the updating of the vegetation descriptions and forest types by country. To this aim we are seeking your assistance in order to update the vegetation descriptions or to complement them with pictures or more detailed information.

Please check the FAO website: http://www.fao.org/forestry/country/en/ and send us (fra@fao.org) any material (picture and/or text) that could be useful to fill existing gaps and improve the current vegetation descriptions by country and/or a link to where we may be able to find this information in English, French or Spanish.

7. Knowledge Reference for National Forest Assessments

In 2003 a web-based “Knowledge Reference for National Forest Assessments” (NFA/NFMA) was developed and made publicly available on the FAO web site. http://www.fao.org/forestry/NfaKnowledgeRef/en. The aim was to provide a world-wide resource for foresters, scientists, teachers and other stakeholders to be used primarily in FAO's support to develop and implement national forest assessments in developing countries, but also in other large scale forest assessments, and which can be used for free, for example as teaching material.

The Knowledge Reference (KR) was developed jointly by FAO, IUFRO Division 4, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and it is now being revised and updated. In particular, the current version of the KR will be improved in terms of content, usability and dissemination.

The first phase of this activity includes a users’ assessment to evaluate current awareness and use of the KR and receive feedback on other areas needing improvement. The assessment is being distributed to contact persons for the National Forest Assessment (NFA/NFMA), to the FRA national correspondents of the Global Forest Resource Assessment network and to a number of university departments or institutes with potential interest in the Knowledge Reference.

Please help us improve our work by taking part in the survey once you receive it.

For further information on this activity feel free to contact FAO’s NFMA Team at FAO-NFMA@fao.org.